Pandoraspace

Day 1 of cramming for Faeq Biria’s workshop:  The only word to describe myself on this first day of cramming for Sricharan Faeq Biria’s classes is SHAKY.

I was shaky while paying for the fee for this month’s classes and for the special classes by Faeq Biria.  The miser in me was wondering whether I paid for classes that I will not be able to attend.  I was also shaky while doing one of the most basic standing poses, Tadasana (moutain pose).  Worse, I was shaky just assisting my partner get into a pose.  Even worse, I was shaky even after the class.  Parts of my body ached from non-use.  My shakiness is discouraging to say the least.

I wonder whether I could actually will myself to attend class every day as, right now, even my will is shaky.

Preparing for Shicharan Faeq Biria’s workshop

Since the beginning of this year, I have not been practicing yoga as much as I should. My excuse: work, travel and getting the flu thrice. The real reason: I did not have the will to attend classes or practice on my own.

A few weeks ago, on that rare occasion when I willed myself to go to class, I was reminded that Sricharan Faeq Biria will be visiting the Philippines to teach our yoga classes for two days.  According to the Iyengar Yoga Manila website,

“Sricharan Faeq Biria is the director of the Iyengar Yoga Centre of Paris, and Chair of the Technical Committee of the Iyengar Association of France. For almost 30 years, he has studied directly with B.K.S. Iyengar. He teaches regularly all over Europe, Israel, Japan, Hong Kong, Southern and Northern Africa, Russia, and South and North America. Faeq Biria’s integrity and devotion to B.K.S. Iyengar’s philosophy are manifest in his teaching. His courses are a source of dynamism and inspiration for all yoga practitioners.”

Of course, I want to attend the classes of Sricharan Faeq Biria.  The question is, will I survive the classes.

I have two weeks to get my act together, i.e., pull myself out of this lethargy, attend classes regularly and get my mind to focus on yoga.

Wish me luck!

Star posted a comment about my 29 April 2009 article, Borobudur has taught me Buddhism. I was about to reply to her comment and post several pictures. Alas, this dinosaur does not know if it is possible to post pictures together with a comment and does not have time to learn about it now.  I am, therefore, posting my reply (with pictures) to Star.  You may find this bit of information interesting as well.

Star -  Wow!  I did not realize there is so much one could learn from a lotus.  Incidentally, I learned a pose in my yoga class some time ago.  The pose is called Padmasana.  Padma means lotus and asana means pose.  In his book, Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar says that Padmasana ”…is one of the most important and useful asanas.  It is the posture for meditation and the Buddha is often depicted in it.”  While the position of the hands of the buddhas in Borobudur change depending on the direction they face, all of them sit in Padmasana.  This is yet again another reason for me to believe that Borobudur takes its inspiration from the lotus.  

Incidentally, I find Padmasana very difficult to do.  I always feel as is my legs would get stuck in that position and I would not be able to untangle myself.  As a result, I have yet to be able to meditate in this pose.

 

Lessons in humility

For a time, getting into many asanas was getting easier.  More often than not, I even found quiet in the pose.  Then I stopped doing Yoga for a time as I became busy with other things.  When I finally had the time to go back to class, I was extremely disappointed that I could not find quite even in the simplest of asanas.  To this day, I have not found quite even while sitting in sukhasana and simply saying “Om”.

I cannot describe in words this feeling of utter disappointment in not being able to find quiet in a pose. Perhaps I should just lift my arms up and scream my head out.  Maybe then you will understand how I feel.  Maybe…

When I tried to understand what was happening to me, I realized that I had been attending classes thinking that I had done an asana and there should be no problem in getting into it again.  As soon as this thought hit me, I told myself that I had to disabuse my mind of this. This way, I would have no expectation and not be over-confindent in myself.  I must learn humility.  I must.

I thought that the best way to disabuse my mind was to attend the basic classes.  I needed to re-learn the asanas.  

I attended the basic class today, which is taught by Susan, one of my classmates in the General Class (the class for people who already have some background in Yoga).  When Susan saw me, she looked surprised and immediately said that Rina was teaching during the week.  I told Susan that I was probably not prepared for a class with Rina yet as I had the flu last week and had not been practicing since.  I suppose that Susan was wondering why I was attending her class when were were classmates.  At the end of the class, Susan asked me how I found her class.  I told her that I thought her class was great and that her back was straight (for many asanas we need to keep our back straight).

Susan is actually one of my classmates who does very well during the class as she is focused.  Most of the time, Susan stays in the back of the class and she hardly says anything.  Susan is also a devoted practioner of Yoga.  She once told me that, when we do not have classes, she practices at home.  I am not surprised that she has been chosen to teach one of the classes.  The thing about Susan is that, she is very humble.  Unlike me, she probably does not dwell on how  perfectly she could execute an asana.

In today’s class, I learned the lesson of humility, not so much from doing the asanas, but from being inspired by my classmate and now teacher, Susan.

My relationship with Ferguson

The question is not who is Ferguson.  The question is what is Ferguson.

Ferguson, whose name I just recently learned, is the plant stationed in the window sill of Rina’s studio.  In a way, Ferguson and I have developed this platonic and seemingly one-sided relationship, i.e., I look at Ferguson and Ferguson just sits there being itself, a plant.

Earlier on, I was told not to close my eyes while doing an asana as it is necessary to focus my eyes on a reference point in order to get into and sustain an asana.  On many occasions, Ferguson enables me to get into and sustain an asana at it is my reference point.

Life lessons from Yoga

I do not know when it happened that Yoga became more than just an exercise for me.  Perhaps it was that time when Rina started a class by quoting Pema Chodron who said “Fear is the natural reaction as we come closer to the truth.” My initial reaction to those words was dread. I thought to myself,  “Oh no! This is going to be a difficult class.” Panic. Panic. While the class was indeed difficult that day, I mulled over what Rina said for a long time after the class.

Then again, Yoga probably became more than an exercise for me even before then.  Maybe, I just did not realize it. Looking back, the seemingly innocuous instructions on how to execute the asanas could be lessons on how to live. 

For instance, in one class, I was feeling frustrated about not being able to get into an asana that everyone else seemed to able to do with ease when I heard Rina say to no one in particular - “Don’t feel frustrated if on some days you can do a pose and on other days you can’t. In life, it is the same. Sometimes things come easy and other times things are difficult.”  

In another class, my other teacher, Alya, taught us how to do Virabhandrasana by giving out these instructions:“Bend the right leg forward, back leg strait. Bend the right leg forward, back leg strait. Think of the back leg as the past or where we came from. The leg that is being bent is the future as it directs us to where we are going. It is important never to forget where one came from in order to ensure that when we move towards the future we remain stable and grounded.”  Virabhadrasana is a pose that requires one to stand with legs about four feet apart. While keeping the upper body facing the front, one foot turns outward, while the other turns slightly in. The leg with the outward turning foot is then bent until the knee and the ankle are aligned. Meanwhile, the other leg is kept very straight.  It is only when both legs are activated that once could actually maintain balance in this pose.

As I said earlier, Yoga could be different for different people.  For me, Yoga has involved into something more than just a physical activity.  It has become one of my life teachers.

On total exhaustion and the inner strength to move on

Each Yoga class lasts for an hour and fifteen minutes.  Yoga classes are offered three times a week. Depending on the lessons for that day and on the pace of the teacher, the students could be made to do twenty or more poses in each class.  On the weeks when the classes are devoted to standing poses, I sometimes wonder how I could survive the class with the number of poses we are made to do.

Once in a while, intensive classes are offered.  The last time I joined those intensive classes, I went to class everyday for five straight days.  Those classes lasted two hours per session. During those classes, I was made to do new poses.  That time was also hell week for me at work.   I would work until 5:30 p.m., attend Yoga class from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., go back to work after, work until 2:00 p.m., go home and be back at work by 9:00 a.m. the next day. (more…)

On learning compassion

After the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum experience, I was greatly disturbed by the idea that people are capable of committing such atrocious acts that bring untold suffering to others.  To this day, I cannot accept that people could be innately evil. To somehow understand why it is that the torture at Toul Sleng took place, I told my friend Simon that  those who cause suffering probably did not understand what it felt like to experience pain.  Consequently, the child torturers did not realize the extent of the hurt they caused others.

I am relieved to know that, in one of my Yoga classes, my theory was somehow validated.

At that class, Rina asked us to take a partner, bind that partner’s outstretched leg and step on the other leg that was bent. When Rina was demonstrating what to do, she repeatedly told us to be merciful to our partner.  Of course, I was too distracted by the instructions about what to do to really understand what it is that Rina meant by being merciful.

I asked my Thai classmate, Ubon, to be my partner. Ubon was one of those naturally lithe and flexible girls who could get into most of the poses easily. Ubon got into the pose quickly, I bound her leg and stepped on the other leg that was bent. Until she frantically signaled for me to get off her leg, I paid no attention to how Ubon was doing.  After all, the pose seemed like a piece of cake to her.

When it was my turn, Rina came over to help me get into the pose. Guess what?  I could not even get into the pose.  Just bending my leg was extremely painful.  Rina did not even get to bind it. It was then that I realized that poor Ubon was probably in pain the whole time she was in the pose and I did not even know it.

Mercy or compassion literally means “to suffer with”.  This presupposes that one understands the other’s suffering.  In that Yoga class, I realized that it is impossible to be compassionate without knowing how the other is feeling.  My experience with Ubon taught me the importance of placing myself in other’s shoes in order to be compassionate.

As the child torturers in Toul Sleng had no idea of the pain they had inflicted on the victims, they probably had no qualms about executing the acts of torture.  I do not see how it is that they could have done those acts if they had know what suffering was like.

Virabhadrasana

I am not privy the to nuances of Hindu religion and myth.  My thoughts about the story of Virabhadra do not, therefore, purport to be those of one who is well-versed with Hinduism, but rather, of one who is grappling with the experience of this bus ride called Yoga.

Virabhadrasana is a pose that is named after the Hindu warrior, Virabhadra (which literally means warrior-friend).

From what I have read and what was told to me by my Yoga teachers, Virabhadra was created by the Hindu god Shiva in his rage, sorrow and frustration over the loss of his beloved wife Sati. Sati’s rage and humiliation at her father Daksha’s deliberate refusal to invite Shiva to an important feast, caused her to “self-combust” and die. Virabhadra was created by Shiva to kill Daksha and avenge Sati’s death. While Virabhadra did kill Daksha, he was later reborn to make his peace with Shiva. Sati was likewise reborn as Parvati, Shiva’s second wife. (more…)

Asana

Perhaps I am one of those people who likes to do things with a purpose.  Perhaps this is why I took a liking to Yoga as each asana (pose) has a purpose.

When I execute an asana, I am aware that I am not merely moving my body but that I am also trying to make myself feel better or determine my state of mind.  I first came to know that each asana served a purpose when Rina told us that, after doing a proper salamba sirsasana (head stand), one can tell whether one is tired.  According to Rina, a salamba sirsasana could perk you up when you feel sluggish or lethargic but in reality have a lot of stored up energy.  A salamba sirsasana could also make an active you realize that you are tired and your body needs to rest.  A salamba sirsasana is also an instant cure to nasal congestion.  Having done salamba sirsasana on several occasions, I can attest that what Rina said is true.

In his book Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar says that the asanas that could provide relief for some ailments.  I was told by my other Yoga teachers that many people visit the Yoga center in Pune, India on Saturdays to get treatment for various ailments through execution of asanas.  Evidently, Yoga transcends mere physical activity.

In the CNN interview of B.K.S. Iyengar, I recall him saying something to the effect that, when one runs on a treadmill, the body does work but is abused because there is no real purpose to the activity. You keep running but you are going nowhere. In Yoga, the body works to get into the pose because it serves a particular purpose like curing a cold, stomachache or backache, or perhaps, even teaching one how to live.